Current commercially available OLED lighting tiles use indium tin oxide (ITO), but because of the material’s limited conductivity, the voltage drops considerably over lengths larger than 2 cm, requiring metal grids to be placed atop the ITO to prevent gradients in light emission caused by these drops.

Now the two companies have developed a metal grid-free 10 × 10-cm OLED tile that uses Cambrios’ ClearOhm coatings to deliver uniform light emission at significantly less cost than devices composed of ITO.

“Novaled’s materials and technology in combination with Cambrios’ ClearOhm coating materials as a transparent electrode led to high-performance hybrid OLEDs,” said Dr. Sven Murano, Novaled’s vice president of product management. “With this approach, manufacturers can produce high-performance, long-lifetime OLED lighting tiles in high volumes at affordable costs.”

In other news, Novaled was recently ranked as a Top 10 company by research firm Lux Research of Boston. The company received strong marks across all of Lux Research’s metrics, including technology value, IP position, partnerships, addressable market and team.

Each quarter the firm identifies the 10 most compelling companies profiled across 16 different emerging technology domains.